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I am a recreational runner who enjoys all aspects of the sport, especially trail running. I work in the media industry where I focus on publishing technologies and emerging media strategies. I have a great wife and two great kids who are supportive and active.

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Essay

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

There are certain things we know we shouldn't do, but we do them anyway. These things are often situational. For me, it's the decision to order coffee after a business lunch. There's nothing wrong with coffee, but I am extremely sensitive to the amount of caffeine I can keep in my system. A little goes a long way for me and I find it a legitimate performance supplement for running. But having caffeine too late in the day generally disrupts my night's sleep.

While caffeinated coffee affects me, decaf doesn't. At home I can confidently brew a pot of decaf when entertaining friends at night and drop off to sleep without a problem. The problem happens when I order decaf in a restaurant and get regular coffee. I've had enough experience to know that, even after stressing the word decaf and then verifying that the cup placed in front of me contains it, there's a percentage chance that I've been given the fully caffeinated brew.

Caffeine version please

That's exactly what happened to me yesterday at lunch. I thought about the risk, but ordered it anyway. It wasn't until I was tossing and turning in bed last night that I realized what I'd done. If I was a chemist, I'd look for a way of sampling coffee to instantly determine the presence or percentage of caffeine in the cup. It could be like the color-changing chemical that police use to determine if a suspected substance contains cocaine.

I think I could make a lot of money marketing that to caffeine-sensitive people. It would also allow me to take waiters to task for botching my order. That would be much better than cursing them at midnight as I wait to fall asleep.

Thanks! I'm guessing that I'm not the first person to think of that idea. It's probably a bigger challenge to detect caffeine percentage. It's not just the presence of caffeine, because even decaf contains some amount of it.

About this Website

I returned to running in summer '08 and I'm discovering a lot about the sport:Conditioning, equipment, nutrition and running technologies.I've created this site to share what I learn and also to keep track of my progress.I hope that it's a useful resource for runners at all levels.

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Please feel free to comment at the bottom of posts. Questions, comments or inquiries:editor(at)emergingrunner.com